At least 60 people were killed in two separate attacks in Ethiopia's conflict-hit Oromiya region in the past week — 14 in Merti Woreda on October 20 and 46 in Sherka Woreda on October 24 — the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's Holy Synod said in a statement issued on Monday, Reuters reported. Church authorities said the dead were all Christians, but did not go into details on how they died or who was behind the attacks. More than 20 homes were also burned and more than 20 people hospitalised with severe injuries, the church's statement added.
What happened in Sherka on October 24?
Armed men surrounded villages at dawn and killed 46 people, on the accounts residents and church officials gave to two separate news organisations. Three residents told Abay Times that 46 people were killed in the Chole and Birbo kebeles of Sherka woreda, in Oromia's Arsi zone, and that the victims were buried together in a single grave at St Raphael's church in Chole on Saturday. A church servant in the woreda put the toll in Chole kebele alone at 43, and an official of the church's Arsi diocese said more than 40 people had died and that some bodies could not be recovered; people were also killed in the Sole Digelu kebele. Residents said elderly people, women and children as young as five were among the dead, and that the attackers arrived as residents who had patrolled overnight were resting. The church servant said the Digelu Medhane Alem church was hit by heavy weapons, that people who had fled into it were attacked and that it was looted, and a woreda church official said residents had warned for days that an armed force was moving into the area, but no one had acted. The Holy Synod's figure of 46 for Sherka, published by Reuters, matches the toll the three residents gave Abay Times.
What happened in Merti on October 20?
Fourteen believers were killed in Merti Woreda on October 20, the Holy Synod said, according to Reuters. A source in neighbouring Merti woreda told Abay Times that more than 15 people were killed in the Gora Silingo kebele overnight on October 20–21. The two figures — 14 from the church's national statement and more than 15 from a local source — are close but not identical, and are published here as reported, unreconciled.
Who is blamed for the killings?
No attribution has been independently established, and the two sides of Ethiopia's conflict blame each other. The Oromiya regional government said the rebel alliance launched the attacks to try to spark religious conflict, without providing evidence, Reuters reported; Hailu Adugna, head of the Oromia Communication Service, blamed what he called the Tsimdo force — a label Ethiopian officials use for the TPLF and the groups they accuse of aligning with it — and gave no toll, Abay Times reported. A source linked to the rebel alliance fighting government forces in the northern Tigray region told Reuters the Oromiya regional government had carried out the killings, citing conversations with two local residents. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebel group, which the regional government has blamed for previous attacks on Orthodox Christians, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said it had information about the Sherka attack and was monitoring it, but had nothing concrete yet, according to Abay Times. The OLA is one of seven armed groups that announced last month that they had formed an alliance aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government, Reuters reported.
Is this part of a longer pattern in Arsi?
Yes — the attacks are the deadliest in a series reported in the Arsi zone this month. The Sherka attack came about a week after the church said at least six people were killed and five abducted in attacks in Shirka and neighbouring Honkolo Wabe between October 12 and 17, Abay Times reported. In July, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, an independent rights group, said 458 people had been killed in attacks in Arsi zone over four years, and said armed groups in the area had targeted followers of the Orthodox church. The Arsi diocese said killings of Christians in Shirka by armed forces were getting worse despite repeated talks led by its archbishop, Abune Elsae, and that it had reported the attacks to authorities up to the Ministry of Peace without result, according to Abay Times.
This report is drawn from Reuters' October 27, 2026 report, opened and read in full via a verbatim wire carrier, and Abay Times' October 25, 2026 on-the-ground report from Sherka, opened and read in full. The casualty figures are the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's, as published by Reuters, with the Sherka toll independently matched by the residents and church officials Abay Times interviewed; the Merti figures differ slightly between the two reports and are published unreconciled. Responsibility for the attacks is disputed: both attributions in the reporting are published as claims, neither was supported by evidence in the reporting opened, and no independent confirmation of who carried out the attacks was available.
